Oyster-shucking machine.



L. SAVIEO.

OYSTER SHUCKING MJJLCHINE.

APPLIGATION FILED JUNE 21, 1912.

1,060,562 Patented Apr. 29, 1913.

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L. SAVIEO.

OYSTER SHUGKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 311N321, 1912.

1 60,502. Patented Apr. 29, 1913.

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LEO SAVIEO, OF MONBOEVILLE, INDIANA.

OYSTER-SI-IUCKING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters .Patent.

Application filed. June 21, 1912. Serial No. 705,069.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEO SAvIEo, a citizen of the United States, residing at Monroeville, in the county of Allen and State of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Oyster-Shucking Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to oyster shucking machines, the object in view being to provide a machine of the class described which embodies means for holding the oysters and operating upon the same in such manner as to open up the shells of the oysters, and break or strain the muscles thereof, so as to prevent the shell from subsequently closing, thereby enabling the oyster itself to be readily removed from the shell by hand.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claim hereunto appended.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation of an oyster shucking machine, embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section through the machine.

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross section through the same. Fig. 6 is a detail view, showing one of the adjustable spreader blocks. Fig. 7 is a detail view of the grooved guide. Fig. 8 is a detail View of one of the clamps;

The machine contemplated in this invention comprises essentially a frame, which, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, is substantially square or rectangular, embodying the upright side members 1, the connecting top 2, and a connecting base 3. These members 1, 2 and 3 may be suitably braced in any desired or convenient manner.

The sides 1 are formed with vertical longitudinal slots 4:, in which a pair of knife carriers or bars 5 are adapted to move up and down. The bars 5 are in horizontal alinement with each other and are provided at their inner ends with vertically extending guides 6 which are rigidly connected to the bars or carriers 5, and project upward through a guide slot 7 in the top cross bar or frame piece 2, the slot 7 being of sufficient length to allow the necessary play of the guides 6 toward and away from each other, to provide for the proper spreading movement of the knife sections or blades, hereinafter described.

The shucking knife 8 is made in two sections 9, or in other words, consist-s of two blades having flat inner faces which abut, as shown in the drawings, and inclined or ohamfered outer faces, so that when the two knives are in close relation to each other and are caused to enter the shell, they act with a wedging effect to force the shell open. These knife sections are carried, respectively, by the bars 5, being secured to the inner corners of the carrier frames, which consist of the bars 5 and 6.

10 designates a contractile spring interposed between and connecting the guides 6, the function of said spring belng to hold the knife blades or sections 9 closely together. The carriers are normally up-held by means of contractile springs 11 which surround guide stems 12 extending from the bars 5 upward through guide openings 13 in the top cross bar 2.

The means for depressing the shucking knife and the carriers for the sections thereof comprises a shaft 14 which is journaled in bearings 15 in the side frame members 1. This shaft has a foot lever or pedal 16 fast thereon, and also has mounted fast thereon a pair of oppositely arranged grooved pul-,

leys 17 around which pass flexible belts 18 which extend upward and are connected at their upper ends to the knife carriers 5, as shown. It will now be seen that by bearing down uponthe foot lever 16, the shaft 14: will be turned, thereby drawing down on the belts 18 and moving downward the knife carriers 5 to which the knife blade sections 9 are attached.

Arranged at a suitable or table 19 provided with holes 20, through which the belts 18 pass. This table is supported by a central post 21 and braced, as shown at 22. Secured to the upper side of the table is a guide plate 23 provided at its opposite sides with flanges 24, which are undercut or dove-tailed, as shown at 25, to receive the oppositely projecting lugs 26 of a pair of clamps 27, between which the oyster is adapted to be securely held while being operated upon by the shucking knife. These clamps 27 are adapted to slide lengthwise of the guide 23 toward and away from each other in a substantially horizontal plane, and are normally pressed together by elevation is a leaf Patented Apr. 29, 1913.

means of springs 28 coiled around guide stems 29 which are adapted to slide through bearing blocks 30 mounted in the lower ends of the slots 4 in the side frame pieces 1,-

hereinabove described.

31 designates a bucket shelf or support for holding a bucket or receptacle in convenient position to receive the oysters, as;

' contact with spreader blocks 33 having in clined outer faces, as shown, said blocks being provided with shanks 84 which extend through vertical slots in the side frame members 1 and are held by nuts placed upon the inner ends thereof. As the knife carrying bars are moved downwardly by the means hereinabove described, the rollers 32 come into contact with the blocks 33, and this results in forcing the knife blades apart, just after the knife as a whole has entered between the two parts of the shell of the oyster. This results in forcing the shells farther apart and breaking the muscles, so that the oyster maybe subsequently removed with ease, and without the use of the usual shucking knife. By adjusting the spreader blocks 33 upward or downward in a manner described, the knife blades or sections may be made to separate or move apart at any predetermined point.

What is claimed is:

An oyster shucking machine, comprising a frame, oyster clamping means, a mechanically opera-ted shu'ckin'g knife embodying oppositely movable blades, knife blade carriers working in guide slots in the machine frame, rollers on said carriers, spreader blocks on the frame with which said rollers cooperate to spread the blades apart, and means for adjusting said blocks to regulate the point at which they operate on the rollers.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEO SAVIEO.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM P. WALTERS, FRANK O. SAVIEO.

Copies oi this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patente,

Washington, D. 0. 

